Butt has admitted he has no proof for the claims

Pakistan cricket chief Ijaz Butt has withdrawn his claim that England players were suspected of fixing a one-day match between the two countries.

"I wish personally and on behalf of the Pakistan Cricket Board to withdraw the comments," said Butt.

"I never intended to question the behaviour and integrity of the England players nor the ECB."

The England and Wales Cricket Board, which had threatened Butt with legal action, says the matter is now closed.

Although his statement stopped short of the "full and unreserved apology" demanded by the ECB and the Professional Cricketers' Association, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman said he had not anticipated how his comments would be received.

"It is regrettable that there was a misunderstanding arising from my comment," said Butt.

"I deeply and sincerely regret that my statements have been interpreted to cast doubt upon the good names of the England players and the ECB."

The ECB said that it, and the England players, "warmly welcome" the statement.

Butt's retraction came after he flew to London on Tuesday to discuss the ECB's threat to begin defamation proceedings with his lawyers.

England's players, who considered refusing to play the fourth one-day international in the wake of the allegations, could also have attempted to sue for damage to their reputations.

Butt's claims related to England's batting collapse at The Oval on 17 September as they lost the third encounter of a five-match series that England won 3-2, the hosts having already won the Test and Twenty20 series.

England lost their last five wickets for 17 runs as they fell 23 runs short in their pursuit of Pakistan's total.

Butt told India's NDTV in the wake of his side's win that "there is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players were paid enormous amounts of money to lose".

The International Cricket Council had previously announced that the match was under investigation after the Sun newspaper passed on pre-match predictions of scoring rates during Pakistan's innings that the ICC said proved "broadly correct".

I have never seen any evidence of any wrong doing by any England player Ijaz Butt

Despite Butt's later claims, the ECB had already been assured by the ICC that no England players were part of its inquiry.

"I wish to make it clear that I have never seen any evidence of any wrong doing by any England player or the ECB at any time," Butt said on Wednesday.

The Test series that preceded the one-day matches had been overshadowed by claims that bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir deliberately bowled no-balls after an undercover journalist paid money to a middle man.

The duo, along with captain Salman Butt, played no part in the one-day series and have been provisionally suspended by the ICC ahead of a hearing into the claims.

Butt has since appealed against the suspension.

The deterioration in relations between the two teams and sets of officials came after after the ECB allowed Pakistan to rearrange two Test matches and two Twenty20 matches against Australia in England in July.

The games were originally scheduled to be played in Pakistan in 2008, but were postponed amid security concerns.

"The ECB and its chairman have been, and continue to be, a friend of and hugely supportive of Pakistan cricket," added Ijaz Butt.

"I am very grateful for their efforts in that regard and for their hospitality this summer."

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